Live review: The Offspring roars through 'Ignition' and more at Alex's Bar in Long Beach

[caption id="attachment_93920" align="alignnone" width="560" caption="The Offsprings Dexter Holland sings another cut from the bands second album, Ignition, during a 20th anniversary show in Long Beach. Photo: Drew Kelley, for OrangeCounty.com. Click the pic to see more."][/caption]

I knew Alex's Bar in Long Beach was an incredibly intimate locale for the Offspring to play on Thursday, but it didn't dawn on me just how small it was until moments before the show began, when I happened to glance up at the capacity sign: 178 persons.

One. Seventy. Eight.

Wow. I was willing to bet they couldn't remember the last time they played to fewer than a thousand folks, though there was that Chain Reaction gig four years ago, when Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace came out.

Even so, before they began the 20th anniversary run-through of their 1992 sophomore album, Ignition – the reason for Thursday night's gig – it was clear this show would culminate into something very special, a punk rock celebration for the ages.

That much was clear from the get-go when frontman Dexter Holland – just before launching into the rowdy opening tune, “Session” – gave shout-outs to two Japanese fans and a couple Brazilians in the front row, all of whom presumably traveled to Orange County just for this show.

“You guys could have really helped us out if it was like this 20 years ago,” Holland joked, referring to the full room compared to the small handfuls of people that watched the Huntington Beach outfit at even smaller gigs in their early days. “Could you help us out on the words? … We might not know all the words.”

Humorous interactions like that cropped up throughout the Ignition portion of the show, and were even more charming because the band – particularly Holland and lead guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman – seemed at times to disbelieve people actually wanted to hear their old material.

“You really like this sh**,” Holland said after a moshpit-inducing rendition of “We Are One.” “I don't think some of these people were even born when we wrote some of these songs.”

After loud-as-hell versions of “Kick Him When He's Down,” ‘Take It Like a Man” and “Get It Right,” Holland seemed to forget his incredulity, finally allowing himself to jump and dance along with the audience for the much-loved single “Dirty Magic.” That came prefaced by another facetious joke: “So we decided to do every song on the record except this next one ... see, that's where the Offspring sold out.”

By the end of “Burn It Up,” the most raucous, heartily sung tune all night, the band was as elated as the hardcore fans fueling the circle pit a few feet away.

“Let's just bask,” said Noodles at the song's end, beaming at the crowd with outstretched arms.

“These shows are just way too much fun for us," Holland added, "because we never do this."

All band-to-fan banter aside, the show's significance was in the milestone it represented: Almost three decades in, the Offspring had never attempted to play some of those songs before; “Run Away” was a first for sure, they said. Many fans, even old-school ones, never got to rock out to deep cuts such as the album's last two tracks, “Nothing from Something” and “Forever and a Day.”

That inherent element of excitement, which transformed 40-somethings into teenagers all around me, only fueled the fun of the next set, a greatest-hits collection comprised of the band's best – “Bad Habit,” “Come Out and Play,” “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)” – preceded by a round of Jagermeister shots shared with front-row fans, plus a couple brand new tunes.

Those songs, slated for release on the band's upcoming ninth album, Days Go By (June 26), didn't get as many bodies moving. The title track sounded surprisingly like Foo Fighters' “Times Like These,” and the other featured track, “The Future Is Now,” was strikingly similar to Rise Against's “Give It All,” without Tim McIlrath's gruffness. (Wonder how they might go over Saturday at KROQ's Weenie Roast y Fiesta in Irvine, where the Offspring are third on the bill behind Coldplay and Incubus.)

Those aren't negative criticisms, mind you – the band, which here often featured a third guitarist, looked comfortable in its big-sound shoes. It was just obvious that this evening's audience wasn't as amped for that material, though they still obliged by throwing all of their energy – nearly two hours in – behind the spirited, triple-threat encore: “(Can't Get My) Head Around You,” “Self Esteem” and “The Kids Aren't Alright.”

Afterward, Dexter, Noodles, original bassist Greg K. and drummer Pete Parada did something even more rare than play such a tiny venue – they walked off the stage and mingled with the audience, taking time to sign posters and albums while posing for countless pictures in between.

The best part was no one mobbed them, nor was anyone offended when Holland said he'd rather just take photos than sign anything, and everyone at least got a handshake or an up-close “hiya” if they wanted it. As much as the show was a celebration of a seminal '90s punk album, it was also a tribute to the Offspring's most loyal fans. Like I said, one for the ages.

Setlist: The Offspring at Alex's Bar, Long Beach, May 3, 2012

First set (Ignition): Session / We Are One / Kick Him When He's Down / Take It Like a Man / Get It Right / Dirty Magic / Hypodermic / Burn It Up / No Hero / L.A.P.D. / Nothing from Something / Forever and a Day

Second set: All I Want / Bad Habit / You're Gonna Go Far, Kid / Days Go By / Come Out and Play / The Future Is Now / Hammerhead / Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) / Staring at the Sun

Encore: (Can't Get My) Head Around You / Self Esteem / The Kids Aren't Alright

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